Betty Zane - Zane Grey (free ebook novel .txt) 📗

of relief. “I am glad you came when you did even though you frightened me more than he did. Promise me that you will not do Miller any further harm. If you had fought it would all have been on my account; one or both of you might have been killed. Don’t look at me so. I do not care for him. I never did. Now that I know him I despise him. He lost his senses and tried to kiss me. I could have killed him myself.”

Wetzel did not answer. Betty had been holding his hand in both her own while she spoke impulsively.

“I understand how difficult it is for you to overlook an insult to me,” she continued earnestly. “But I ask it of you. You are my best friend, almost my brother, and I promise you that if he ever speaks a word to me again that is not what it should be I will tell you.”

“I reckon I’ll let him go, considerin’ how set on it you are.”

“But remember, Lew, that he is revengeful and you must be on the lookout,” said Betty gravely as she recalled the malignant gleam in Miller’s eyes.

“He’s dangerous only like a moccasin snake that hides in the grass.”

“Am I all right? Do I look mussed or⁠—or excited⁠—or anything?” asked Betty.

Lewis smiled as she turned round for his benefit. Her hair was a little awry and the lace at her neck disarranged. The natural bloom had not quite returned to her cheeks. With a look in his eyes that would have mystified Betty for many a day had she but seen it he ran his gaze over the dainty figure. Then reassuring her that she looked as well as ever, he led her into the dance room.

“So this is Betty Zane. Dear child, kiss me,” said Grandmother Watkins when Wetzel had brought Betty up to her. “Now, let me get a good look at you. Well, well, you are a true Zane. Black hair and eyes; all fire and pride. Child, I knew your father and mother long before you were born. Your father was a fine man but a proud one. And how do you like the frontier? Are you enjoying yourself?”

“Oh, yes, indeed,” said Betty, smiling brightly at the old lady.

“Well, dearie, have a good time while you can. Life is hard in a pioneer’s cabin. You will not always have the Colonel to look after you. They tell me you have been to some grand school in Philadelphia. Learning is very well, but it will not help you in the cabin of one of these rough men.”

“There is a great need of education in all the pioneers’ homes. I have persuaded brother Eb to have a schoolteacher at the Fort next spring.”

“First teach the boys to plow and the girls to make Johnny cake. How much you favor your brother Isaac. He used to come and see me often. So must you in summertime. Poor lad, I suppose he is dead by this time. I have seen so many brave and good lads go. There now, I did not mean to make you sad,” and the old lady patted Betty’s hand and sighed.

“He often spoke of you and said that I must come with him to see you. Now he is gone,” said Betty.

“Yes, he is gone, Betty, but you must not be sad while you are so young. Wait until you are old like I am. How long have you known Lew Wetzel?”

“All my life. He used to carry me in his arms when I was a baby. Of course I do not remember that, but as far back as I can go in memory I can see Lew. Oh, the many times he has saved me from disaster! But why do you ask?”

“I think Lew Wetzel cares more for you than for all the world. He is as silent as an Indian, but I am an old woman and I can read men’s hearts. If he could be made to give up his wandering life he would be the best man on the border.”

“Oh, indeed I think you are wrong. Lew does not care for me in that way,” said Betty, surprised and troubled by the old lady’s vehemence.

A loud blast from a hunting horn directed the attention of all to the platform at the upper end of the hall, where Dan Watkins stood. The fiddlers ceased playing, the dancers stopped, and all looked expectantly. The scene was simple, strong, and earnest. The light in the eyes of these maidens shone like the light from the pine cones on the walls. It beamed soft and warm. These fearless sons of the wilderness, these sturdy sons of progress, standing there clasping the hands of their partners and with faces glowing with happiness, forgetful of all save the enjoyment of the moment, were ready to go out on the morrow and battle unto the death for the homes and the lives of their loved ones.

“Friends,” said Dan when the hum of voices had ceased, “I never thought as how I’d have to get up here and make a speech tonight or I might have taken to the woods. Howsomever, mother and Susan says as it’s gettin’ late it’s about time we had some supper. Somewhere in the big cake is hid a gold ring. If one of the girls gets it she can keep it as a gift from Susan, and should one of the boys find it he may make a present to his best girl. And in the bargain he gets to kiss Susan. She made some objection about this and said that part of the game didn’t go, but I reckon the lucky young man will decide that for hisself. And now to the festal board.”

Ample justice was done to the turkey, the venison, and the bear meat. Grandmother Watkins’s delicious apple and pumpkin pies, for which she was renowned, disappeared as by magic. Likewise